Question

Which appeal does Martin Luther King Jr. use in the following line from his "I Have a Dream" speech?

"Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand's of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children."

A. Logos and ethos
B. Pathos
C. Ethos and pathos
D. Logos

Answer 1

Martin Luther King Jr. uses pathos in his 'I Have a Dream' speech to evoke emotional responses from the audience by using vivid and contrasting imaginary.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the line from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, King employs the appeal of pathos to connect emotionally with his audience. The vivid contrasts between a 'dark and desolate valley of segregation' and the 'sunlit path of racial justice,' and between the 'quicksand of racial injustice' and the 'solid rock of brotherhood,' are designed to evoke a strong emotional response and inspire a desire for change. Pathos often involves this use of dramatic or vivid language to stir the audience's emotions, which King masterfully does in his speech.

Answer 2

Pathos.

Step-by-step explanation:

Pathos is an appeal to the emotion of an audience. In this form of persuasion, a speaker tends to persuade his/her audience based on emotions such as sympathy, anger, sorrow, etc.

The word pathos is derived from the Greek word pathea which means 'suffering' or 'experience.'

In the given speech, delivered by Martin Luther King Jr., he has used the rhetoric of pathos. It is because the device that he has used in the speech, parallelism, in 'now is the time' evokes emotions and appeals to the audience's emotions that they need to rise against segregation and move towards the path of racial justice. The words such as 'segregation,' 'racial justice,' 'brotherhood' all contribute to this rhetorical device of pathos.

So, the correct answer is option B.